NaNoWriMo* 2012
It’s on! We’ll see some of you in December.
*National Novel Writing Month
(TheNaNoBraSto gave sneak previews of what a few MBers planned to write.)
Date: November 1, 2012
Categories: Fiction, poetry, and fanfiction, Things We like
Comments RSS TrackBack 173 comments
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Errata
in November 1st, 2012 @ 09:07I think I set a new record! Five hundred words in and I was already doubting myself. It got better by six hundred words, though.
Anyway, my plot now centers around a giant clockwork turtle. It’s pretty awesome.
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Cinnamoon
in November 1st, 2012 @ 09:46I’ve written a page and still have no idea which of my three story ideas this is. Oops…
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LBK is on a school computer. Sh!!!
in November 1st, 2012 @ 10:50Good luck everybody! May some scraps of youse guises sanity survive!
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POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 14:311111 words already. That ought to be auspicious.
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Keiffer
in November 1st, 2012 @ 14:342,454 words so far! 15 hours in and a bit ahead of schedule! *happy squee*
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Jadestone
in November 1st, 2012 @ 16:20THAT AWKWARD TIME
WHEN IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO START YET
oh god I have no ideas or plot or time but my lab was cancelled for today only giving me this like FALSE SENSE OF FREE TIME even though it WON’T BE HERE FOR LONG
but I miss NaNo a lot and I kind of want to just go for it anyway
maybe a lowered wordcount
DECISIONS MAN IDK
I will probably just POST A WHOLE BUNCH AS I KEEP HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT THIS
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6.1
Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in November 1st, 2012 @ 16:48“AngstoWriMo.”
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6.1.1
Jadestone
in November 1st, 2012 @ 17:04PRECISELY
so I’ve sort of convinced myself it might be possible in some regard and welp.
But it’s dinner time in 15 min so there’s no point starting yet, then after I need to get some info for a lab report I have due tomorrow and then I need to finish writing it. But after that I’m free the rest of the night in theory?
Hnnnng. I have like 3 different worlds I worldbuild in my free time and maybe now is the time to do something with them? I don’t even know. Maybe. I have no plot for any of them.
I guess I’ll think more until I get back at 8 and then I think maybe I will JUST GO FOR IT WHERP.
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6.1.1.1
Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in November 1st, 2012 @ 19:32Or you could, you know, study.
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Jadestone
in November 1st, 2012 @ 19:42WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE YOU SPEAK OF
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Choklit Orange
in November 1st, 2012 @ 20:17Pfft.
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POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 16:371674. That’s today’s quota met. I’ll see if I can write more this evening, because the next couple of days will be pretty busy for me.
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POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 17:10And the site’s down. Too many people trying to update. No wonder.
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Agent Lightning
in November 1st, 2012 @ 17:46HAHAHAA I HAVE NO PLOT AND ONE THOUSAND WORDS
I thought of my plot this morning at breakfast. Something about a mad cellist, and a girl who runs away and leaves letters for everyone but everyone’s too scared to open them.
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POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 18:27To repost my plot from the brainstorming thread:
“She’s a harassed local councilwoman overseeing the human ghetto of a galactic refugee camp. He’s a cook busily reinventing cuisine for a jaded and malnourished population. They fight crime.”
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Sentence I’m least proud of so far: “It was more like a chieftain’s hut, really, since the District would have been considered a small village on the Lost World where huts and capitals had any meaning.”
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Sentence I’m most proud of so far: “Mahesh called it his restaurant: an obsolete word used for memories and myths, like motorcycle, or autumn, or ocean.”
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Jadestone
in November 1st, 2012 @ 19:39HERE GOES
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Jadestone
in November 1st, 2012 @ 23:05Well I made it to 1238 before midnight so I guess I am almost on track for today? Wow I forgot that I write weird time-wise so like my “daily wordcount” for myself gets split by what they call my daily wordcount since I write well past midnight mostly. Oh well.
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POSOC
in November 1st, 2012 @ 23:33I am in the Talking About My Novel stage, when anyone who asks casually “what are you writing about?” gets five paragraphs of enthusiasm. I’m worried I’m annoying the meatspace friends who are also doing NNWM. Also, just hit 1716.
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Errata
in November 1st, 2012 @ 23:37And i have 2200! It took a while, but I actually warmed up to the story idea I’ve been planning to do all month. Which is a good thing, I think?
Anyway, my dad’s doing NaNo with me this year. He actually reached the goal well before I did, which was a bit embarrassing. Then he wanted me to proofread his work. (I refused. There is no proofreading, there is only NaNo! So he got someone else to do it.)
This is all much easier than I remembered. I suppose that’ll change later.
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Jadestone
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 00:38Ending tongiht at 2139. I think this weekend will be my chance to get as much done as possible to make up for how busy I’ll be in the week. Woo!
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Cat's Eye
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 01:06Done at 3107 for the first day! Not bad!
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Cinnamoon
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 01:39Done for the night at 5k. Wanted to get more, but I had class this morning and then training the rest of the day, so I’m pretty happy. I’m hoping to make it to 50k by Monday. Not a very busy weekend, so it might be possible. I’ve done 15k days before, it’s just the matter of doing three of them in a row that’s more difficult.
Yes, I’m an overachiever.
This is my 6th year doing nano, though, so I’ve been building up to it.
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*Cskia
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 01:4911:48. Time to finish homework and start for today…
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Cello-Playing Mathematician (AKA Kyra)
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 02:35331 at 2:35am… I’m going to go to bed now. Hopefully tomorrow will bear more fruit.
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POSOC
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 09:571810 words. Googling Hindi honorifics.
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Mikazuki
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 11:35Over 3,000 words! I’ve been waking up early and writing before school. -_-
Good luck, everyone!
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Agent Hippie
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 16:09Am I the only one doing YWP?
I’ve got 1,200.
*is embarrassed*
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*Cskia
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 18:27Don’t be embarrassed! I think I’m unofficially doing YWP too, since with all the stuff I have to do there’s no way I’m finishing 50,000. I had 250 and then decided to start over…
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TNÖ
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 17:011,910 words and I’m stuck. Aaand I have no time for anything.
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Pseudonym
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 20:29It’s Day 2.
I was rereading my chemistry notes from today and they contained the phrase “L refers to the pirates of orbitals”.
It’s too early for this.
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Errata
in November 2nd, 2012 @ 21:574350! Gonna aim for 5k today. Maybe more, depending on how tired I am.
I wonder if I could get 100k this month? I bet I could. I’m almost on track for that goal, really. Besides, my dad’s still ahead of me, and that’s a good enough incentive.
I think I’d need 6k today to really meet that? Hm. Well, don’t hold me to this goal, but I think I’m going to shoot for it.
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Jadestone
in November 3rd, 2012 @ 02:17Whoops night writing
forever
anyway I just passed 3000, will easily make today’s word goal in a little while. Woo. Though tomorrow I will really try to get ahead while I can…
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POSOC
in November 3rd, 2012 @ 03:19Just hit 3200. I really need to do more work on the aliens.
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Keiffer
in November 3rd, 2012 @ 14:135813 words!
I’ve decided to make each chapter a different story so I don’t get bored with what I’m doing. And each chapter is going to be at least 3797 words. Finished the story about the serial killer and it ended happily. Currently writing a story about a shooting that happens at a concert. This one isn’t going to end happy. I think I’m going to alternate between happy ending stories, sad ending stories, and cliffhanger stories.
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Cat's Eye
in November 3rd, 2012 @ 15:568441! I’ve reached that point in novel-writing where when I’m writing, all I want to do is go on the Internet and procrastinate, and when I’m not writing, all I want to do is write and hang out with my characters and write some more. It’s a fun place to be at.
I’m having a little trouble with the format of my novel; since it’s based on an already-existing work, I’m struggling not to have it all just be a paraphrase of the actual script. Right now I’m staving off copying by adding a lot of new scenes and the characters’ commentary, but it’s difficult, especially when I want to be able to speak in my characters’ voices and I don’t know quite what their voices sound like.
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Errata
in November 3rd, 2012 @ 22:43So I reached 6k last night, but most of today was spent out being active and stuff. I have just over 7k now, and I’m not going to stop until I get at least 8.5k.
Also, my romantic subplots are getting really messy. A and B (both female) have some overtones of a romance or something, which I’m… not quite comfortable with, so I introduced a third character, C, to be a love interest for B.
Then C turned out to be a bit of a jerk, so I introduced D, who would take his place and form a bit of a triangle. Then I realized that he and A would actually go really well together, with complementary character arcs and everything, so I think I’m going to end up writing a romance between A and D. Which leaves B lonely, unless C shapes up or I introduce another character.
I don’t write romance. It’s not something I have experience with, and it’s not something I’m interested in.
Why are they doing this to me?
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Jadestone
in November 4th, 2012 @ 01:02LOGISTICAL QUESTION, REQUIRE ASSISTANCE
How might a civilization tell time without the sun or moon? Like, at the bottom of a marine trench. There’s biolumenescent things so there’s light, but not anything that we use as standards. I’m looking for ranges from minutes to years. I was thinking maybe “heartbeats” for a “second” equivalent? But besides that I don’t know. Tides were one possibility for days but that would only work closer to the surface…
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Bibliophile
in November 4th, 2012 @ 13:22Variously sized hourglasses?
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Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in November 4th, 2012 @ 13:45A mermaid civilization, say?
Anything requiring technology as we know it would require a source of energy and a way of processing materials. It’s hard to imagine that they’d have (say) fire, glassblowing, or metallurgy. So precisely calibrated hour glasses would be hard to come by.
The Chinese had clocks based on the flow of water. Hm… I wonder how you’d go about building something like that underwater. Maybe you’d use air bubbles!
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Jadestone
in November 4th, 2012 @ 15:45…you might say XD
Hmm. The air bubbles one could be cool. Maybe something with hydrothermal vents, to provide the air–maybe there’s one with gas leaking out and they have something to trap it, and the air is released every hour-equivalent when the pressure is too much and opens a hole in the top so it all escapes then fills again.
Hourglasses could also work! Plenty of sand, and while there couldn’t be glass to surround it just a large stone bowl with a hole at the bottom could do it…
Thanks guys!
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Ambystoma Maculatum and Joolb (~)_+)
in November 4th, 2012 @ 15:29Heartbeats sound good for really short measurements. For days, do they all sleep at the same time? Perhaps they could measure much longer periods based on the amount of time it takes for a child to reach maturity or an average lifespan, or by the migration, mating season, or other seasonal behavior of common fish, if those things exist at depths where there are no seasons.
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Bibliophile
in November 4th, 2012 @ 19:40Oh, that’s right! Helen Dunmore’s Ingo books have the Mer measuring long periods in lifespans, and it worked.
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Errata
in November 4th, 2012 @ 17:08Could you use distance-based units of time? Sort of the opposite of a lightyear, I guess. The amount of time required to swim across the trench at a given point, for example.
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Bibliophile
in November 4th, 2012 @ 19:42That would work if there are no alternatives, but it would be confusing, as different individuals do not take exactly the same amount of time to do things. Then again, people have used plenty of non-standardized units in the past.
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Errata
in November 5th, 2012 @ 15:02It wouldn’t be an exact unit of time, but it could still be useful. Most of the time when we say ‘minute’, we don’t mean exactly sixty seconds.
I’m not sure the idea would work, but the concept intrigued me, so I decided to post it anyway.
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POSOC
in November 4th, 2012 @ 01:143355, but I spent most of today prepping for and attending a Halloween party, so I’m finishing up almost 2000 words behind. Bluh.
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Cinnamoon
in November 4th, 2012 @ 02:3917k, and I’m finally starting to hit my writing groove, where the words aren’t battles anymore.
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Agent Lightning
in November 4th, 2012 @ 13:245500 approximately. I’m behind
but the plot is THICKENING
Also, I added a ghost!Jade– I have no idea. Perhaps there are currents that change seasonally? Interesting question, though…
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Keiffer
in November 4th, 2012 @ 15:386820 words as of one in the morning today. I don’t know if I’m behind of ahead.
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Mikazuki
in November 4th, 2012 @ 18:15I just passed 10k and my mind has officially filed a restraining order. ~sigh~
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Agent Lightning
in November 4th, 2012 @ 19:55Wow, you all write so fast…
WRITER’S BLOCK CURE OF THE DAY
Have a character jump into the room screaming. It’s literally the only way my story is still going. Just have the door open and somebody walk in with a gun/a message/a warning/a bleeding wound that will surely kill them.
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Agent Hippie
in November 4th, 2012 @ 20:221638 words today and I’m still behind.
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Agent Hippie
in November 4th, 2012 @ 20:24SFTDP but that should be 1638 words written today.
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POSOC
in November 4th, 2012 @ 21:13Just broke 4000, making my daily average only a little about 1000. And tomorrow also looks busy.
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Cat's Eye
in November 4th, 2012 @ 23:12Just hit 10,900! I’m a little worried that I’m going to finish the novel significantly before the end of the month, and I don’t really ever want to finish this novel, so.
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Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in November 6th, 2012 @ 10:56Trilogies are popular nowadays.
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Jadestone
in November 5th, 2012 @ 00:235548
Haven’t had time to write today really because of hockey practice and homework. Tomorrow will also be a lot of work but maybe I can get more in??? This does not bode well for the future but the deal with myself was I wouldn’t let it affect my work or my sleep schedule on weekdays so I guess I must go to bed soon, before I can bulk it up too much.
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Jadestone
in November 5th, 2012 @ 01:12Alright, churned out some more and am now sitting at 6009. Bedtime, sadly.
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POSOC
in November 5th, 2012 @ 09:12Well, cake, you’re the one with crazy college work and you’re still 2000 words ahead of me. I better get cracking this afternoon.
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Cinnamoon
in November 5th, 2012 @ 15:4722k. The “homework” thing is starting to slow me down, though… Not sure how much longer I can keep up this pace.
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Agent Lightning
in November 5th, 2012 @ 16:37Finally caught up! Killing off main characters FTW
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Agent Lightning
in November 5th, 2012 @ 16:39*for the win
I always feel like I need to clarify that
In other news, my noveling soundtrack seems to mainly consist of Florence+the Machine, a bit of Kate Nash, some Coldplay, and Off to the Races by Lana del Ray.
(shout-out to L for introducing me to around half of those artists :D)
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Errata
in November 5th, 2012 @ 18:22Hit 10k last night, and haven’t touched the thing all day. School and distractions have kept me away… Today was going to be productive. Alas, it was not to be.
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Cinnamoon
in November 5th, 2012 @ 22:3125k! Halfway.
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POSOC
in November 5th, 2012 @ 23:09HOW
(seriously, that’s amazing. Keep going!)
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Cinnamoon
in November 6th, 2012 @ 14:36A lot of practice. xD This is my sixth nano (and hopefully my sixth win!) and I’ve just been slowly increasing my wordcount every year. As far as actual writing logistics, I write 1k in about 20 minutes, so it’s just making time to write.
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POSOC
in November 6th, 2012 @ 19:19Dang. This is my fifth NaNo, and the last four have been an even split between wins and losses.
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Jadestone
in November 5th, 2012 @ 23:247062. Only a thousdand each the last two days, but they were both school nights, so.
I’d normally stay up much later to write, but tomorrow, I vote! Gotta get up early (before 6:30) and get to the polls right quick to avoid lines. Maybe if I don’t fall right back asleep after voting/before class, I can catch up a bit more. Tuesday is when my big assignment is due anyway, and that’s finished, so tomorrow night might be a tiny bit more free.
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POSOC
in November 5th, 2012 @ 23:545795. Today is the first day I’ve broken a daily total of 1667 since the first day. So I’m still behind, but I didn’t fall any further behind.
Two hours left till midnight, where I am. Let’s see if I can continue catching up.
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Errata
in November 6th, 2012 @ 20:05Just hit 15k. I’ll get to 16k, then I have some homework to finish up and studying to do, then I go back. Ultimate goal for today is 18k, but I’m not sure I’ll hit that. We’ll see, though, I do have time.
Also, I just discovered an awesome way to tie this storyline together with last year’s NaNo. It’ll be pretty epic.
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Jadestone
in November 6th, 2012 @ 23:05Have written uh… almost 500 words so far today. Wherp. But I did spend about 2.5 – 3 hours working on a watercolour version of a poem for my Sandman exco midterm, so at least I was doing somethign creative. Anyway, going to aim for at least 1000 total tonight, maybe more if all goes well but I’m in a bit of a rough patch plot-wise. If I can get through it, then things should maybe flow better.
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*Cskia
in November 6th, 2012 @ 23:28I have a problem which can be summarized into this:
“Hmmm, I have time to write today!”
*rereads what I have so far to get inspiration*
“That character sounds fun, I’ll just do a quick sketch…”
*hours later*
“Ha!”
*looks at time*
“Cake…”
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Jadestone
in November 7th, 2012 @ 01:129,214.
Wrote a bit over 2,200 this evening in all–not bad! Considering I started at, like, 11pm. Only about 800 words behind today (tuesday)’s goal of 10,000, so I don’t think I’m doing too badly surprisingly? We’ll see. It’s always the second week that gets me.
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Errata
in November 7th, 2012 @ 08:59I reached 17k last night, which puts me in a reasonable place for maybe getting to 21k today, if I focus. Incidentally, I think the 5k+ I got yesterday sets a new record for words typed in one day, and I certainly did more other stuff than I have on other marathon days.
Meh. Week 2 blues setting in already. Or maybe that’s just unenthusiasm. I’m going to go write a bunch to stave it off. Plot, prepare to advance!
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Keiffer
in November 7th, 2012 @ 22:4111,017!! Yeah! 652 words behind for today… But I’ll probably get a good four hundred or so in before midnight, and the weekend is coming! I was too busy watching the news all night yesterday, so at least I have a somewhat decent reason for being behind.
Also, NaNoWriMo website is not working right now… for me at least. I dunno about anybody else. Could just be the wifi.
Off to write!
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Cinnamoon
in November 7th, 2012 @ 23:15My characters are gaining personalities! I’m not a planner, so I like to let them develop by themselves throughout the book, and then go back and make them have the personality they decided on all along. I’m pretty excited, because for the first time (at least in nano… My short stories have been doing this for a while) they’re actually believable humans, with flaws and problems. I think that’s a definite sign that my writing is maturing, and that nano’s helping my writing as a whole! I’m pretty excited.
I hope everyone else is experiencing similar joy in their stories.
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POSOC
in November 7th, 2012 @ 23:42“Joy?” Nope. My novel is a rough sketch at the moment. It might come to life more once the setting’s established itself and I can focus on the characters.
I exceeded 1667 words today, again, but I’m still lamentably behind.
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POSOC
in November 8th, 2012 @ 00:12(This sounds kind of whiny and bitter, upon reflection. I can only say that the second week slog started in the first week.)
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Jadestone
in November 8th, 2012 @ 01:15You can do it!! And this is the PLACE for whining should you need it
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POSOC
in November 9th, 2012 @ 00:09Thanks for both sentiments
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Jadestone
in November 8th, 2012 @ 01:14Just broke 10,000. So I’m a day behind now, as long as we don’t count it as thursday yet. Gonna just call that a victory (even though it was really only 800 words
) and go to bed. Got a lab practical tomorrow and all.
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Cat's Eye
in November 8th, 2012 @ 17:2317,500 words! I want to get to 18k by the end of today, but I’m leaving for Boston tonight, so we’ll just hope for the best.
I’ve realized I have to listen to music, otherwise I’m distracted by everything around me, but I can’t just listen to my iPod on shuffle because then I’m distracted by the music. So I’ve created a playlist of around 25 songs that pretty much works as a fanmix for my novel, and listen to it on repeat. (Highlights include Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, the Clash, and Bob Dylan. It’s that kind of novel.)
It’s also useful because I can tell myself that every day I have to write starting from the first note of the first song and I’m not allowed to stop until the last song ends, which means that I make myself write for a solid hour and a half every day. Which is something I can’t do normally, because if I just set a timer for 90 minutes and tell myself to write for all of that, then I end up constantly checking the timer and figuring out how much longer I have to write instead of actually writing.
What are all of your guys’ music choices? Do you listen to music? If so, what?
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Jadestone
in November 8th, 2012 @ 18:54I do listen to music! I work best with something with a strong beat, because it keeps my typing in rhythm. I also write better to instrumental or songs in different languages, because then I can’t get distracted by the lyrics.
Music from this year so far:
E Nomine (german techno trance)
All the songs from the Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland video game
Eluveitie
WintersunThe last two mostly because their new album’s came out and I’ve just been listening to them all the time, heh.
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POSOC
in November 8th, 2012 @ 20:11So far it has been pretty eclectic for me — a mixture of Imagine Dragons, Celldweller, and Two Steps from Hell. I should look for music that fits my novel better
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Pseudonym
in November 8th, 2012 @ 21:30* obligatory mention of Boston *
Every year I pick out a couple of albums to listen to while I write – this year they’re Oh, Inverted World by the Shins; In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel; Good News for People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse; and Kiss Each Other Clean by Iron & Wine (incidentally, this album has some great sax parts).
Lately I’ve also been listening to white noise in the background because sometimes I find music really distracting.Okay off to write, I’m pretty behind.
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POSOC
in November 8th, 2012 @ 21:58Aiming for unsettling Mardi Gras/peacock/axolotl aesthetics with the Shouhrat aliens. Realized that my description so far paints them as something similar to My Little Pony. I’d put my head through the screen if that wouldn’t cause serious damage to screen and/or head. D:<
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Jadestone
in November 9th, 2012 @ 00:08That sounds pretty interesting! I’d love to hear more about them. I’m a sucker for amphibians and aliens alike.
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POSOC
in November 9th, 2012 @ 00:41Right now, since I started my novel about halfway through planning, the Shouhrat (singular Shouhra) are more a half-coherent cloud of whirling ideas than anything like a species. Some of the things I know about them:
-the multitudinous colorful feathery tendrils they possess are actually highly advanced pieces of biotech with a number of specialized functions — voice synthesis, atmosphere processing, data storage, basically anything you can think of — they’re born with a few and can customize them/add on others as they grow — these are the main reason their aesthetic is described as “axolotl/peacock/Mardi Gras”
-they’ve been optimized with aforementioned advanced biotech to adapt their bodies to nearly any environment, given time and nutrition — if it doesn’t kill them immediately they’ll change to fit — this makes them de facto ambassadors between a number of different species since they can function in low to high gravity, atmospheres with differing compositions (as long as the basic oxygen/nitrogen mix is there), etc.
-they have a mysterious agenda
-their technology is super-advanced but focused on small-scale stuff rather than large-scale stuff, so it’s more bio/nanotech than megastructures and starships
-notwithstanding that, they did manage to reach and colonize several other planets in their home star system before the Powers That Be in the galaxy noticed them
-they were detected too late for the destruction of a single planet to matter to them, so said Powers That Be elected to wipe out their sun instead
-a number of them were rescued by the Benefactors before everything froze and died
-they are now scattered across the Benefactors’ numerous refugee habitats drifting undetected among comet clouds
-they tried immortality and got bored with it; after maybe five hundred of our years, most elect to condense their important memories, core values, knowledge and expertise down into one of the data-storage tendrils — no longer sapient or conscious, but they act as a living library for their successors(would it be cheating to copy/paste this into Appendix A? <__>)
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Jadestone
in November 9th, 2012 @ 01:22Finishing tonight at 11680. Stayed up later than I should have, mehhh. But tomorrow is friday and I only have classes from 9am to noon, at least. So I still get 6 hours of sleep.
Alright. Bed.
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Cat's Eye
in November 9th, 2012 @ 21:53Broke 20,000, woohoo, going to bed forever.
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60
POSOC
in November 10th, 2012 @ 00:03Beat today’s quota, but I’m still behind. 11,708 words.
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Errata
in November 10th, 2012 @ 00:44After two days of almost entirely ignoring NaNo, I probably destroyed my chances of 100k.
I finished up the plot arc of the project I was working on, decided not to do a massive crossover with last year’s NaNo, and now I’m going to start doing something fun and lighthearted with a thousand threads to tie together. Somehow.
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Cinnamoon
in November 10th, 2012 @ 23:15Fun and light hearted is the greatest for nano. A thousand threads? I’m impressed!
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POSOC
in November 10th, 2012 @ 23:52Writing dialogue, realize it comes across like some kind of strawman vegan screed. /facepalm
(but it’s in character! The speaker has never seen any other animal-like species that weren’t sapient creatures, he lives on a vegetarian diet (as does everyone else he knows, since extra trophic levels are energy-inefficient on a space habitat), so of course he’d react with horror when first finding out that people on Earth ate meat!)
Sigh… this is what December is for.
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POSOC
in November 10th, 2012 @ 23:53This isn’t intended to condemn people who have chosen to eat vegetarian or vegan, by the way… it’s just baffling when you discover what appears to be A Message rearing its ugly head in your story and you didn’t put it there.
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Keiffer
in November 11th, 2012 @ 00:17So I haven’t checked my word count really in about 60 hours, and I’ve suddenly got 36,436 words… Over describing things to a point of never wanting to describe them again in writing seems to be paying off.
Descriptions, and lots of witty diologue. My NaNo is working out this year. Yay!
I only have to write about 700 words a day to finish, now.
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Jadestone
in November 11th, 2012 @ 01:06Wherp didn’t write at all yesterday because of computer troubles whoops. And only wrote uh, 500 today. Sigh. And tomorrow will be a high-work day… though I’ve pretty much decided not to go to hockey practice so that should clear up about 4 hours.
But I need to keep telling myself it’s a FREE TIME THING ONLY and not to interfere with my work so we’ll see. I’ll still have thanksgiving break free of distractions as I’m not going home.
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Cinnamoon
in November 11th, 2012 @ 01:3650k!
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65.1
Jadestone
in November 11th, 2012 @ 13:11*confetti*
wow okay guys PUT ME ALL TO SHAME A LITTLE FASTER NOW
But seriously, congrats!!
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65.2
Agent Lightning
in November 12th, 2012 @ 18:46Before the midway point? Man, Cinnamoon, you’re really fast!
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POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 16:12Adding to list of questions to research in December: “How do you actually make tortillas from scratch?”
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66.1
Lizzie
in November 11th, 2012 @ 16:50Flour, water, salt, shortening, baking powder, fry, profit.
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66.1.1
POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 17:08Thanks! Although I should have clarified: by “from scratch” I meant “grind the maize yourself.”
This will still be useful, though.
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KaiYves
in November 11th, 2012 @ 17:24Pound the corn into flower with a mano and metate…
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POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 18:21Ugh. Just broke 13000 and I feel like I should go back and rewrite the whole thing. At least it’s an improvement over past years when I’ve hated the novels enough to never touch them or the ideas in them again.
The worst part is it’s reminding me of the things I dislike about my own writing — all the bad habits I’ve been trying to break.
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67.1
Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in November 11th, 2012 @ 19:18It’s a first draft. It’s the job of a first draft to be awful. Pretend you’ve already rewritten it the way you’d want the final version to be.
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POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 19:49Thank you. I can recognize this is good advice and do my best to follow it, even though large parts of me don’t want to hear it right now.
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67.1.1.1
Rebecca Lasley (Administrator)
in November 11th, 2012 @ 21:11That’s why it has to be said. Anyway, you’re not alone. In fact, a few minutes after I wrote the comment here, I found myself saying much the same to one of my local WriMos. And I can’t count how many times I remind myself.
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POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 23:49I am now sitting at 14520, having broken today’s quota.
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68.1
POSOC
in November 11th, 2012 @ 23:50(still behind, but I’m catching up.)
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Jadestone
in November 12th, 2012 @ 00:4114065 words so far–so about 1800 today. I’ll need to really work on catching up now… but with two tests and a project due this week that is looking harder to accomplish x_x
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Errata
in November 12th, 2012 @ 18:03Week 2 hit me hard. I mentioned that I’d wrapped up one thread and was going to try something else, and I was hoping that would bring back my motivation. It had basically the opposite effect. I wrote all of 1k over the weekend, and that reluctantly.
I think I’m back on the bandwagon, though. I was far enough ahead that I’m not officially behind yet, even if any dreams of a double NaNo are pretty much shot at this point.
Gah. I think this whole thing is more a struggle for more words than anything else, at this point. I’m losing sight of all the wacky adventures NaNo should create. I’m one thousand words into this new story and I never had any enthusiasm, this is just something to get words on the page because I need to do that. Because I’m determined to do this, because NaNo is the best thing ever. Except it isn’t, really, this year.
Eh. I’m pretty sure this is just Week 2 talking. I intend to keep writing and maybe I’ll do something funnier than this new story here and I’ll certainly find a way.
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Agent Lightning
in November 12th, 2012 @ 18:49Twenty thousand. It’s nice not being behind. XD And I’ve killed off another character (not a main character, just a red shirt) and made some connections with the plot so it looks like I planned it (a schoolteacher? I mentioned a schoolteacher before. Let’s make it the same schoolteacher!) I plan to have more word wars with Hippie. Those are fun. Oh, and also sorry if I don’t post much this month. I’m really busy.
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POSOC
in November 13th, 2012 @ 00:16New sentence I’m least proud of: “Her internal monologue trailed off into angry muttering.”
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72.1
POSOC
in November 13th, 2012 @ 01:2016309 words now.
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Jadestone
in November 13th, 2012 @ 01:17No longer treading water but losing ground x_x
this computer mishap is really not good at all for writing
And two tests, a quiz, and a lab report due this week… D: Tempted to just stay up late to write more now but I’m hardly getting words out and uhg**about 15 min later**
alright cranked out some more. Broke 16k. That’s only 4,000 words behind as opposed to 6k, I suppose. Tomorrow will be too filled with homework/studying to keep working on the deficit.
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POSOC
in November 14th, 2012 @ 01:12Man, I’m spending so much time on the protag’s internal monologue that I think I might try the second draft in first person. Only problem with that is that I’m far better at characterizing people from the outside. Too much of my own voice creeps in when I write FPPOV.
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75
POSOC
in November 14th, 2012 @ 01:54Beat my quota for the third day in a row
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75.1
Cinnamoon
in November 14th, 2012 @ 12:36Congratulations!
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Jadestone
in November 14th, 2012 @ 13:58Wrote no words yesterday
Had to study for a test. Have a quiz tomorrow and another test on friday, but maybe I can get something done today D:
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POSOC
in November 14th, 2012 @ 19:23Every day for the past week I’ve thought “argh, there’s no way I’m going to be able to write 1667 words in the time before midnight,” and for the past three days I’ve written more than that. It’s oddly inspiring to think about.
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Agent Hippie
in November 14th, 2012 @ 21:17I have a high chance of failing this year. Seeing as I’m 5788 words behind (I’m shooting for 40,000) and I’ve been behind every day, it doesn’t look good for me.
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78.1
POSOC
in November 14th, 2012 @ 22:00I’ve been behind every day, too: I’m at 18390, when I should be at 23333. I’m just under 5000 words behind right now. You’re not alone. And even if you don’t hit your goal, you’ll still have produced tens of thousands of words. That’s worthy.
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Jadestone
in November 15th, 2012 @ 18:10no words yesterday either
Neil Gaiman and then quiz studying
huuuge test tomorrow
also large test due wednesday
not sure I’m gonna make it
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80
POSOC
in November 15th, 2012 @ 19:30Just broke 20000. I’m now slightly less than 5000 words behind, which is… where I’ve been for most of the month.
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Errata
in November 15th, 2012 @ 23:45Got 2k tonight, putting me at 24k. That’s just a thousand words away from par! Piece of cake.
The new story is going lots better, though it’s turning out to be a slight bit autobiographical. Whoops.
Also, I have my own Worst Sentence now! Should I be celebrating?
“They were walking out towards someplace I can’t be bothered to figure out, and it was the next morning. Work that last bit in smoothly.”
I also made up my own playlist, one hour long and a great variety of anything that appealed when I was making it. Basically following Cat’s Eye’s strategy there.
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POSOC
in November 15th, 2012 @ 23:56Suddenly hate this novel again. Though this happened to me earlier and I got over it, so I guess I’ll do my best to slog through until it reaches a more bearable point.
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POSOC
in November 16th, 2012 @ 01:36Success! Broke my quota again today, that’s like the… fourth straight day, maybe. Didn’t think I would manage to do it.
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Jadestone
in November 17th, 2012 @ 02:25After several days of no words at all (too many tests this week–three of them
), I managed to scrape 2500 out of myself. If I can get that many tomorrow as well, I might still have a chance of pulling back after fall break. Sunday through wednesday I need to work on my IDA (Independent Data Analysis) for Mineralogy so I may not have time then, but if I can really churn it out tomorrow…We will see.
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POSOC
in November 17th, 2012 @ 18:35Yesterday I wrote over 1000 words but it was the first day in a week that I didn’t beat the quota. Stuck at 23000 right now. Let’s see what I can do this evening.
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Agent Lightning
in November 17th, 2012 @ 19:04I’m all caught up! After a few days of being behind! So I take this temporary break in my self imposed November MB hiatus to do a celebratory dance.
And I think I like writing without a preplanned plotline! It lets me do a lot of cool things, like destroy every smartphone ever and let my characters be kidnapped by a megacorporation. And then sending the most popular jerk in school on a midnight road trip with a ghost.
…this story started out as a teen angst realistic fiction novel. XD
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POSOC
in November 18th, 2012 @ 00:20Today has been a better NaNo day. Beat my quota, and I’m debating whether or not to crank out another ~170 words so I can hit the halfway point tonight.
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Jadestone
in November 18th, 2012 @ 01:15bluuhhhhh
was hoping/counting on this being a productive night
but I have nothing to say in this story
why does everythign I write seem like its destined to be a much longer work I mean jeeze I really need to learn how to pick up the pace this is so slow
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Jadestone
in November 18th, 2012 @ 02:39Broke 20k
woooo uhg bleh so behind x_x
Not even really the 1667 today but uhg I need to sleep. Have to work on my take home test n the mineralogy lab all tomorrow, and read/respond to articles, and plan the discussion I’m leading for Sandman…
blerg never any time. Maybe Thanksgiving break, I guess. I hope. Herp.
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Errata
in November 18th, 2012 @ 17:04Eh, the weekend did not work and I did nothing until today. Which puts me… 6k behind.
I’m now writing both stories I had planned simultaniously. Might start working on the last idea I had as well, just to complicate things. I think it’ll get rid of writer’s block, and probably be helpful all around. Maybe maybe start last year’s idea for random fun up again too. Or something else random and enjoyable.
NaNo inspires so many emotions. The current ones are not positive. Ehhn.
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91
Keiffer
in November 18th, 2012 @ 18:00My NaNo is consuming my life. 8,500 more words to go!
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91.1
Pseudonym
in November 18th, 2012 @ 20:54Wow nice!
I am so behind – 22,994. Weird things keep happening, like the Quest for the One True Candyland Metaphor and its related lawn gnomes. There are also several tangents about licorice.
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Keiffer
in November 18th, 2012 @ 23:59
Eh, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter if you’re behind so long as you’re having fun doing it, right? And that seems quite interesting… I’d like to know how that quest works out.
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POSOC
in November 18th, 2012 @ 23:38Beat my daily quota again with 1799 words written today so far, bringing my total to 26809 and my current streak to 2 days without falling under quota.
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Jadestone
in November 18th, 2012 @ 23:57whrrrr
that part where I promised to not let nano interrupt my homework or grades in any way
I must adhere to that
so today I finish even further behind again.
Bluh.
I guess if I write a ton over thanksgiving break (all… four days of it…) I might have a chance, but as it is I have a huge Independent Data Analysis due wednesday I’ll be spending most of tomorrow and tuesday on. But after that there’s only… the mineral drawer identification, the invertebrates research project, and the evolution research project…
Sigh. We will see.
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Errata
in November 19th, 2012 @ 22:53So I started another story AGAIN. Which I didn’t think I was going to do, but actually it’s going quite nicely. It’s about a sort of interdimensional police department charged with protecting reality. I’m pretty sure it was influenced by all the Pratchet I’ve been reading. Which is not a bad thing.
In other news, I just got around 2.5k in one hour. Which is a nice feeling, even if I should haev been accomplishing far more all day.
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POSOC
in November 21st, 2012 @ 22:25I broke through 30,000 yesterday, but I’m mentally worn out and I’ll be spending the rest of Week 3 with family for Thanksgiving, so I’ll be busy. At least I won’t have the Internet to distract me…
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96
POSOC
in November 22nd, 2012 @ 23:24Ugh. Somehow there’s wi-fi, which only allows me to chronicle my despair more accurately. 31277 and counting, but I’m still well behind. Thanksgiving killed my last novel as well. I’ve discovered I’m not really capable of writing by the seat of my pants, at least not within a science fiction frame. Lesson learned: complete outline next time.
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Agent Hippie
in November 23rd, 2012 @ 14:48My mom made me change my goal from 40,000 to 35,000, claiming that a goal 40,000 words was setting me up for failure. She wanted me to go for 30,000 but I wouldn’t. I don’t think she understands that Nano is supposed to push you to your limits.
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98
POSOC
in November 23rd, 2012 @ 21:33The plot is vague and hinges on competing dei ex machinae, and the characters have no chance of affecting its progression or undergoing personal growth thereby. The setting is as vivid and fleshy as a cardboard movie prop. I didn’t do sufficient research to explore any of the themes I wanted to properly. “AngstOWriMo” is in full swing, to the point where reaching victory would feel hollow and unfulfilling, and defeat would come as a kind of horrible relief.
This happened last year too. I never learn.
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98.1
Piggy
in November 23rd, 2012 @ 22:37*machinis, my friend. If you run out of options, maybe you could try to turn the whole thing into a farce, or maybe a setup for a phenomenally elaborate pun. Best of luck.
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98.1.1
POSOC
in November 24th, 2012 @ 00:38I can always count on you for a correct Latin plural. Thanks for the encouragement, too. (Things aren’t looking quite so bad at the moment.)
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98.2
POSOC
in November 24th, 2012 @ 00:21But I successfully beat my quota tonight for the first time in days. 2021 words written today, and counting.
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Jadestone
in November 24th, 2012 @ 02:33NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ABOUT NANO
it has been
a long time since I wrote because school. And I could try to just write all tomorrow but I should really use tomorrow to do even more work. Bluh. I could do tonight but after all that geology I should maybe try to sleep sometime? To be up reasonably tomorrow. Meh. We’ll see I guess : /
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99.1
Lizzie
in November 24th, 2012 @ 07:07I would think a geological noir mystery would fit nicely into most stories..
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Jadestone
in November 24th, 2012 @ 14:47I actually already stuck it in there. Didn’t even try to make it fit. I figure any creative writing I do this month is good enough to count XD
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KaiYves
in November 24th, 2012 @ 16:51Nano or not, you could always write a few more stories to form a Private Optics’ Casebook.
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Errata
in November 26th, 2012 @ 14:56So I’m going to win this thing. I’m determined. I’m just under 16k away from the end, which means 4k a day and I can do it. Piece of cake.
Well, maybe not quite. I think I can do it, though, if I just focus. Which… Doesn’t seem to be happening today.
In good news, my… Third? Fourth? idea is finally working out pretty well. Still a bit depressed about my ideas and unmotivated about actually working and despairing about whether I’ll ever succeed at writing again, but I’m having fun with this story, at least.
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100.1
Selenium the Quafflebird
in November 26th, 2012 @ 15:51You can do it, Errata, I believe in you!
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POSOC
in November 26th, 2012 @ 23:31I’m at 38,823, which is still well behind par… but the last time I tried NaNo I only got to 38K by Dark Thirty, so this is at least an improvement.
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Cat's Eye
in November 27th, 2012 @ 01:1850,910 words.
Nothing left to do but kill all my characters and leave Horatio alone with his ghosts. I still think tragedies are some of the most beautiful things in the world.
Terpsichore made me an absolutely amazing music playlist for this novel. (Shoutout to “The Stars Shine In the Sky Tonight” by Eels, “In Our Bedroom After the War” by Stars, and “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd for being the best Hamlet/Horatio songs I’ve ever heard.) She’s been fantastic during this entire process. I’ll have to thank her somehow.
I think I’m going to bed.
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102.1
Agent Hippie
in November 27th, 2012 @ 14:41Congratulations on hitting 50,000!
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103
Agent Hippie
in November 27th, 2012 @ 21:51I am all caught up.
*mind explosion*
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Errata
in November 28th, 2012 @ 00:46I actualyl got four thousand yesterday, putting me at 38k, but today I only got two thousand, and both of those late at night. Meh.
On the sort-of-plus side, I read two good books today. It was probably a mistake.
On a considerably brighter side, I got a thousand words less than twenty minutes. It wasn’t terrible, not all of it. I was happy.
ANd I think I’ve gotten to that part of the novel where you have no idea what’s happening, really. Fun.
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Agent Lightning
in November 28th, 2012 @ 15:1750,139.
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POSOC
in November 29th, 2012 @ 01:18“We discovered biological immortality thousands of years ago, but we eventually rejected it. The purpose of immortality is to preserve an individual indefinitely, no? But individuals change as they have new experiences and incorporate those experiences into their selfhood. After a near-infinite amount of new experiences — which is the purpose of immortality — the individual necessarily undergoes a near-infinite number of changes, that is, the individual becomes a different person entirely. The person who became immortal no longer exists, and what is death but cessation of existence? So one can halt the progression of change and preserve an individual in infinite stasis, but cessation of change means cessation of growth, cessation of experience, in a phrase, cessation of life: death again. The first thing a species discovers after immortality of the individual is that either ‘immortality’ or ‘individual’ must be illusory.”
Shouhra philosophy. Even if I scrap most of my first draft, I’m keeping this in some form.
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POSOC
in November 30th, 2012 @ 01:4447479. I might actually make it this year.
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107.1
Robert Coontz (Administrator)
in November 30th, 2012 @ 15:07We’ll pie you to add momentum.
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Errata
in November 30th, 2012 @ 11:3747,000. ALmost there.
Finished the second short story I was working on yesterday, and started on something new for the last five thousand words. More typical fantasy setting, male protagonist, and the assertive one as the main character. IT’s a change from what I’ve been doing. IT’s pretty fun.
And I’m working during the daytime, albeit slowly, which is more than I’ve done in days. Progress!
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108.1
Errata
in November 30th, 2012 @ 14:21Done now! Hooray.
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108.1.1
Selenium the Quafflebird
in November 30th, 2012 @ 15:48Congratulations!
I knew you could do it.
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Jadestone
in November 30th, 2012 @ 17:28Congratulations to everyone that’s made it so far!! *pies*
And to those of you who are close so far–YOU CAN DO IT!! *momentum pies*
As is probably evident I had to stop about a week ago, for various reasons, but I’m glad I got to participate at least a little bit
HURRAH!
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POSOC
in November 30th, 2012 @ 22:5050,049.
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110.1
Cello-Playing Mathematician (AKA Kyra)
in December 1st, 2012 @ 00:27Wow! That was close!
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POSOC
in December 1st, 2012 @ 01:44It certainly was! Only a few hours to spare.
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POSOC
in November 30th, 2012 @ 23:08I am relieved, but also quietly triumphant. Congratulations to all the other winners!
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Agent Hippie
in December 1st, 2012 @ 08:00I was able to finish with 35,416 words. It wasn’t my original 40,000 but it was higher than the thirty thousand that my mom wanted me to change my goal to. And I’ll probably add more in editing.
Congratulations to all who have won! It makes me so happy to see people who made it.
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Cat's Meow
in December 1st, 2012 @ 14:54My sincere congratulations and admiration to all of the winners!
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